Voter registration deadline nears

By By LINDELL KAY - Daily News Staff

Published: Tuesday, October 9, 2012 at 03:51 PM.

Voter registration books close at 5 p.m. Friday for the 2012 General Election.

That doesn’t mean a person who wants to vote cannot still register and vote after that day, but they won’t be able to cast their ballot on Election Day. Those voters must vote at one-stop early voting, which begins at 8 a.m. Oct. 18.

Local election officials are seeing a swell in the number of people signing up to vote with hundreds of folks registering in September. Regular staff and part-timers pulled in to help are spending the majority of their time right now keying in the new voter information, according to elections officials.

In Onslow County, 1,821 people were registered to vote in September, with unaffiliated voters leading the pack. There were 689 new voters who registered as unaffiliated. The Democrats had 572 voters register, Republicans had 545 and the Libertarian Party had 15, according to information from the Onslow County Board of Elections.

In Carteret County during the same month, 627 voters were registered. That total number includes 141 Democrats, 256 Republicans, five Libertarians and 225 unaffiliated voters.

Friday at 5 p.m. is also the deadline for changing party affiliations.

Oct. 30 is the last day a voter can request an absentee ballot by mail.

Voter registration books close at 5 p.m. Friday for the 2012 General Election.

That doesn’t mean a person who wants to vote cannot still register and vote after that day, but they won’t be able to cast their ballot on Election Day. Those voters must vote at one-stop early voting, which begins at 8 a.m. Oct. 18.

Local election officials are seeing a swell in the number of people signing up to vote with hundreds of folks registering in September. Regular staff and part-timers pulled in to help are spending the majority of their time right now keying in the new voter information, according to elections officials.

In Onslow County, 1,821 people were registered to vote in September, with unaffiliated voters leading the pack. There were 689 new voters who registered as unaffiliated. The Democrats had 572 voters register, Republicans had 545 and the Libertarian Party had 15, according to information from the Onslow County Board of Elections.

In Carteret County during the same month, 627 voters were registered. That total number includes 141 Democrats, 256 Republicans, five Libertarians and 225 unaffiliated voters.

Friday at 5 p.m. is also the deadline for changing party affiliations.

Oct. 30 is the last day a voter can request an absentee ballot by mail.

In order to register, a potential voter has to meet three criteria: be a U.S. citizen, be 18 at the date of the next general election; be a resident for at least 30 in the county in which they are registering.

Sun Journal reporter Sue Book contributed to this article. Contact Daily News Senior Reporter Lindell Kay at 910-219-8455 or lindell.kay@jdnews.com. Follow him on Twitter and friend him on Facebook @ 1lindell.